Vehicle



(No Model.) '.3 sheets-sheet 1.

o. s. STAFFORD.

ADVERTISING VEHICLE.

No. 588,783. Patented Aug. 24,1897.

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(No Model.)

C. S. STAFFORD. ADVERTISING VEHICLE.

No. 588,783. Patented Aug'. 24,1897.

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(No Model.) C. S. STAFFORD.

ADVERTISING VEHICLE.

Patented Aug. l24:, 1897.

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@muy n rens c, moro-um UNITED STATES PATENT FFi-cn.

OHARLF'S s. STAFFORD, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OFONF-THIRD To THOMAS LFAOH, OF SAME PLAOF.

ADVERTISING-VEHICLE.

SPECIFICATION forming` part of Letters Iiatent No. 588,783, dated August24, 1897.

I I Application led September 21, 1896. Serial No. 606,460l (No model.)

To all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, CHARLRSS. STAFFORD, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of San Francisco, State of California,have invented an Improvement in Advertising-Vehicles; and I herebydeclare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of thesame. l

My invention relatespto advertising-vehicles; and it consists of theparts and the construction and combination of parts hereinafterdescribed and claimed. A

Figure 1 is a view of my vehicle. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of thesame on the line y y of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a' side View of the drivingmechanism, the canvas being moved by ropes and pulleys. Fig. 4 is aplan'of the same. Fig. 5 shows the arrangement of parts when usingsprocket-wheels and chains. Figs. 6 and 7 are modified constructions tobe hereinafter referred to. p

The object of my invention is to provide a wagon or vehicle with movableiexible sides or surfaces and a mechanism interposed between these andthe wheels of the wagon, so that the rotation of the latter will advancethe movable surfaces periodically and inter-v mittently.

A is a frame of any suitable orvdesired form and construction mountedupon wheels B, so as to form a wagon or vehicle.

In the present case I have shown a device in the form of a rectangle ofconsiderable height having a root of triangular cross-sec tion.

Between the ends of the frame, near the top and bottom, are drums orrollers C, so journaled that they will rotate easily, and upon thesedrums or rollers the flexible belt or advertising-surface O is disposed.VIn the present case I have shown one of these surfaces with its rollersupon each side ofthe structure, and it will be understood that thesesurfaces may be moved byindependent mechanisvm, or, if preferred,both'ma'y be moved by one intermediate mechanism.

,The belts or surfaces are passed over the rollers up and down. There isa sufficient number of rollers tovprovide for as great a surface as maybe desired, and the belts being endless will be propelled by therotation shaft.

of the rollers, so as to advance them as may be desired.

The rollers may be driven in various ways, either by intermeshinggear-wheels fixed upon the ends of the roller-shafts and engaging eachother in the manner to rotate the rollers in the proper direction withrelation to each other, or the roller shafts may have sprocket-Wheelsfixed upon them adapted to be driven by chains which pass over thewheels. f y n The rollers at the bottom of the apparatus are thusvariously connected, Whilethose above are free to move independently as,the belt or surface passes over them. In some cases it may be foundadvisable to fix ropes in the edges of the belt-surfaces, the ropespassing over suitable pulleys, by which they are moved.

It Willbe manifest that rope or belt pulleys' could also be fixed uponthe roller-shafts to transmit motion, but these various transmittingdevices being well known I do not especially limit myself to either.

The term gear is generally used to indicate any intermediate drivingmechanism.

My arrangement enables me to use av belt or surface of considerablelength and adapted to contain a large number of advertisements inarcomparatively small space.

The lower rollers are each positively driven, whichv overcomes thetendency ofthe folds of the belt' slipping at points intermediate of thee'nd rollers and also enables the said intermediate portions to bepositively acted on to give a uniform motion to all parts of the belt,insuring an easy movement to the latter without danger of cramping orbinding.

In order to transmit the power to drive the rollers and belts,variouscombinations of gearing may be employed, which gearin gis driven fromthe Wheels of the vehicle. In the present case I have shown twolongitudinal shafts D, journaled at theends of the vehicle and havingdriving devices fixed tothem to intermesh with those upon the drums orrollers. These shafts have also fixed upon them bevelgears E, whichengage with the corresponding gears F upon a horizontally-journaled Thisshaft has a pinion Gr fixed upon it, and the pinion is engaged by agear-wheel IOO H, mounted upon another horizontal shaft, which in turncarries a pinion I, and this pinion is engaged by a mutilated gear-wheelJ upon still another shaft K. This mutilated gear-Wheel has teeth uponone-third or other desired portion of its periphery. In the presentdescription I have shown it having teeth upon one-third of itsperiphery. Upon one side of this gear-wheel is a projecting spur L,which engages a projecting pin or lug M upon the shaft of the gear-wheelH when the teeth of the mutilated wheel have arrived at a point whichwill cause them to mesh with the pinion I. This guide always places theteeth of the gear and pinion with such relation to each other that theyare sure to mesh properly and not strike against each other inopposition.

Upon the same shaft with the wheel J is another gear-wheel O, which inturnengages with a mutilated gear-Wheel `l? fixed upon the shaft Q. Thisgear in the present case isrshown as having teeth upon one-fourth ofitsperiphery, and it also has a guide-lug P', which engages alugl2 uponthe gear-wheel O,-so as to insure the'correct intermeshing of the teeth.vUpon the shaft of the gear P is another gear-Wheel `R, and this engages-With a pinion S upon the driving-shaft or axle T.

`It Will be manifest that the mutilationof the .gears may be varied inany desired proportions, the'duration ofmovem'ent produced when thegears are `in mesh being the point tobeconsidered, and it `willbemanifest that the train of gears here described is rsimplyrepresentative of any train `which will produce equivalent results.

The operation will then beas follows: The vehicle being drawn orpropelledin any usual or suitablemanner, the shaft T will be rotated andwill transmit powerthrough the various gears to rotatethem when all arein mesh and to interrupt the rotation when either of the mutilated gearsare out of mesh with their fellows. The proportion o'f the smooth to thegear part of these wheels and therelation of their diameters aresuchthat the belts or surfaces upon which the advertisements are. displayedwill be moved at each engagement a suicient distance to bring anewadvertisem'entupon the surface and cause the former one to disappear,or, if-preferred,twoor more may be exposed at one time.

.In order to enable the vehicle to turn corners, it is necessary toprovide Aa clutch or clutches, as `shown at U, one part being fixed uponthe Vshaft Aand the other slidable upon the key or feather andpreferablyactuated by a spring, as shown-at Vf, sothat the two parts arenormally kept in mesh; butif either wheel `runs fasterthan the other oneor both the Vclutches lwill act, the parts :sliding over each other, sothat thefaster moving `wheel will be allowed to travel temporarilyindependentof the remainder of the ishaft, and when the 1machine isagain moving the clutch V action fis ysuch `as torevolvetheshaft fromthe wheels.

In Fig. 3 the pinion S is shown as fixed upon the main wheel-shaft.

In Figs. G and 7 I have shown the shaft X as a supplemental onejournaled parallel With the main wheel-axle T', which in this case isstationary. The driving-gears S are fixed to the wheel-hubs and engagecorresponding gears W upon the ends of the shaft X, the rest of themechanism operating as before described. l

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosec ure by Letters Patent, is-

l. An advertising attachment for vehicles consisting of a structuremounted upon wheels, a series of parallel drums or rollers j ournaledlongitudinally at the bottomithereof and a second corresponding `seriesjournaled near the top and approximately'in'line above the lowermostones,^an endless yband or flexible surface `passing' around saidrollers, power devices on :the rollers-of"th'e'lower series whereby saidrollers arepos'itivelyconnected and driven while 1those of the supperseries are free to move independeutlycasthe belt or surface passes overthem, `andagear or mechanism driven from lthe shaft 'of one of thevehicle-Wheels whereby poweristransmitted to rotate therollers andadvance Athe belt.

2. An advertising attachment "forvhicles consisting of a-structuremounted upon Whe'els and having afseries of parallel-connected andpositively-driven `rollers at `the bottom 'and a series ofparallelrollers near thetopmovable independently as the advertising`,beltorfsurface advances, an endless belt or'flexiblesurface passingaround said rol1ers,"an`d"provi ded with advertisements, mechanism 'bywhich each of the lower rollers is positively driven, in the-samedirection, gear=w`h`ee1`s mounted upon the-apparatusinterniediate-betweenfthe wheel-axle and `the'rollers and-an `intelposelmechanism wherebylthe rotation of .tlre1apparatus and advance of thesurface vare'rendered intermittent.

3. In an advertising attachment 'for'vehicles, a structure mounted upon:bearing- Wheels, aseries of parallel rollers Tjournaled attopandbottom,anendless band orfsur'face containingthe advertisements passedabout said rollers, a gear or mechanism by which the lower rollersare-"connectedin series to rotate in unison, alongitudinalshaft.having agear engagingroneof the roller-gearstotransmit motion thereto, `atransverse tshaft fjournaled horizontally upon the iframewith bevel'eol`gear'to transmitto the longitudinal shaft, one or more mutilated gearsintermediatefbetweenthe drivin gL shaft andthe gear"G,mech anism wherebythe teeth of "the Amutilated gears are caused f to en gage with`thoseoftheir connected pinionsat eachpartial revolution.

4. -An advertising device "for vehicles con- :sisting of a structuremountedupon Wheels, longitudinally-journaled ydrums'or'rollerssituatedin the Vupper and lower part of `the IOO - structure respectively, anendless liexible band or surface passing alternately up and down overthe various rollers having the matter to be exposed imprinted upon itseX- terior surface, gears or mechanism connecting the roller-shafts sothat they will rotate in unison, the longitudinally-journaled shaft witha gear engaging and driving the rollers, a transverse shaft with beveledgear intermediate between it and the longitudinal shaft, a pinion G uponsaid shaft through which power is transmitted from the wheel-aXle, oneor more mutilated gears mounted upon independently-rotating .shaftsintermediate between the wheel-axle and the pinion G,where by the latterand the connected belts or sur- CHARLES s. STAFFORD.

Witnesses: s

S. H. NoURsE, H. F. AsoHEoK.

